Gov. Yevgeny Vincente Emano
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By SHIELA MAE BUTLIG
Correspondent .

MISAMIS Oriental Gov. Yevgeny Vincente Emano yesterday laughed off questions about his controversial 2013 agreement with a mysterious woman named Rhea Ritzie P. Nueva even as he asserted that a provincial ordinance authorized him to sign contracts with anyone who wishes to do business in the capitol compound.

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It was the first time for Emano to say anything about the controversy surrounding the lease contract he made with Nueva but he did not say who she is, where she is from, what made him sign the controversial contract without the approval of the provincial board or why no other capitol official could say who she is.

Speaking during the radio station DxKO’s “Lambo Misamis Oriental” broadcast, live-streamed on Facebook, Emano called news reports about his 2013 deal with Nueva “nonsense.”

“Nueva? Wa may hinungdan nga issue pero wa man gyud lain issue. Buhi-buhion gyud tawon para naa silay mapakang nga issue,” said Emano. 

In jest, he called reports about his recent trip to Vietnam “fake news,” adding that he went to the “moon.”

“Sunod tuig, mag-leave na pud ko,” he added. Asked by the radio program host where he plans to go, Emano said: “in Mars (sic).”

He added: ”Ako nag-leave, giadto lang ko sa moon, issue na. In 2022, sa Pluto na… explore the universe.”

Emano also expressed his resentment over news reports about him taking two leaves of absence in barely a month, at a time when questions about Nueva’s identity and their 2013 deal were being raised.

“Ngano di ko pwede mag-leave? Ibutang ko nag-byahe ko. Di ko pwede mag-byahe? Ang city government nag-adto sa Estados Unidos, charged sa city government, gi-charge sa inyong buhis, issue ba? Ako nag-leave ko, nag-byahe kogi-personal nako, wala nako gi-charge sa province,” he said.

Emano said the contract for the lease of the 1,029 square meters across the Northern Mindanao Medical Center (NMMC) and the property near the regional office of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) gave the capitol additional income.

“Kanang pwesto sa una, kana ilang gaignon kang Nueva, wa nay kita unom katuig ang nilabay. Naay investor, nag-invest siya dinhiSiya nagbuhat sa stall. Naay share ang provincial government. Naay share pud ang investor kay syempre nag-invest man siya,” Emano said.

He maintained that he was given authority by the provincial board, through an ordinance, to sign agreements with investors that want to do business within the capitol compound.

“BOT or build, transfer, operate… sa ordinansa gitugutan ko mopirma para sa tanan kapitalista mosulod sa capitol compound. Asa ang issue? Di ko kasabot,” Emano said.

He added: ”Naay ordinansa, built in na sa among ordinansa. Unsa pa man ilang pangitaon? Unsay issue ana?”

When the program host asked him to say exactly what the ordinance was, Emano responded: ”Naa lagi na sa ordinansa nato… O nagselos sila kay wala nila nahuna-hunaan kaniadto. Karon nga naa na, nag-kita na, ila nang hilabtan?”

In Emano’s 2017 verified answer that was submitted to court by provincial legal officer Cerilo Neil Pacana in connection with a civil case filed by the Philippine Red Cross, the lawyer asserted that the revenue code of the provincial government clothed the governor with the authority to enter into lease contracts even without the approval of the provincial board.

But lawyer Julio Uy, who was vice governor when the provincial board approved the revenue code in 2005, said the ordinance did not give the governor the blanket authority to sign lease or even build-lease-transfer contracts without the approval of the provincial board. The current vice governor, Jeremy Jonahmar Pelaez who was among the provincial board members who approved the 2005 revenue code, agreed with Uy.

During the DxKO program, Emano said of the controversy: ”May untag kawat na kay tagaan og gibun-aton. Kung gusto mo’g pwesto diha, paghulat lang mo. Kung gusto mo og pwesto, naa pay isa, paabangan gyapon — kanang sa Tinagbuan Center ilalom sa tourism office.”

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